Radium Mining

Care must be taken in handling radon, as with other radioactive materials. The main hazard is from inhalation of the element and its solid daughters which are collected on dust in the air. Good ventilation should be provided where radium, thorium, or actinium is stored to prevent build-up of the element. Radon build-up is a health consideration in uranium mines. Recently radon build-up in homes has been a concern. Many deaths from lung cancer are caused by radon exposure. In the U.S. it is recommended that remedial action be taken if the air in homes exceeds 4 pCi/1. 

Although the nucleus of the uranium atom is relatively stable, it is radioactive, and will remain that way for many years. The half-life of U-238 is over 4.5 billion years the half-life of U-235 is over 700 million years. (Half-life refers to the amount of time it takes for one half of the radioactive material to undergo radioactive decay, turning into a more stable atom.) Because of uranium radiation, and to a lesser extent other radioactive elements such as radium and radon, uranium mineral deposits emit a finite quantity of radiation that require precautions to protect workers at the mining site. Gamma radiation is the... 

As shown in Table I, radium content of surface soils not associated with U mining or milling varies by slightly more than an... 

Dallimore P.J. and R.F. Holub, General Time-Dependent Solutions for Radon Diffusion from Samples Containing Radium, Report of Investigation 8765, Bureau of Mines, United States Department of the Interior, Denver (1982). 

The liquid mine wastes are mainly represented by underground drainage waters (up to 2000 m3/day and even more), as well as low radioactive waste water from uranium treatment plants (from 100 up to 300 m3/day). The uranium isotopes, radium-226, thorium-230, polonium-210, lead-210 are the most dangerous. Their total activity in waste waters reaches often 10-50 Bq/L at the MPC values for natural waters of 0.111 Bq/L. 

Morse, R.H. 1969. Radium geochemistry applied to prospecting for uranium. Canadian Mining Journal, 75-76. 

CARNOTITE, This mineral is a vanadate of potassium and uranium with small amounts of radium. Its formula may be written K (UCL) (VOah JHsO. The amount of water, however, seems to be variable. It occurs as a lemon-yellow earthy powder disseminated through cross-bedded sandstones with rich concentrations around petrified and carbonized trees. Soft sp gr 4.7. It was mined in Colorado and Utah as a source of radium. Other localities are in Arizona. Pennsylvania, and Zaire. 

On a global level, the amount of radium released to the environment or disposed of through industrial use is considered to be insignificant compared to the natural occurrence of radium in the environment. Radium is present in the wastes of uranium mining and refining processes, and disposal of these wastes is regulated. 

Another potential source of atmospheric radium is particulate matter created by uranium mining and milling operations. However, no information was located on estimated releases or atmospheric concentrations. 

The most significant water-related releases of radium may be from the leaching of uranium mine tailings and from the release of ore-processing effluents generated by leaching, decantation, and... 

Land releases of radium are related to atmospheric fallout of coal fly ash (see Section 5.2.1). For example, elevated radium-226 concentrations in snow have been detected near a coal-fired power plant in Poland (Jaworowski et al. 1971). Other land releases may include the disposal of coal fly ash, lime slurry derived from water softening processes, and uranium mine tailings and associated wind-blown dusts. However, no information was located on the total amount of land-released radium... 

The concentrations of radium-226 in soils that were contaminated by mining or milling activities have ranged from less than 1 to 3,700 pCi/g (0.037 to 137 Bq/g) (Kalin 1988 Landa 1984 Tracy et al. 

Environmental Fate. Studies of releases of radium that result from uranium mining and processing would be helpful to fully assess the total amount and environmental fate of radium released to the environment. Field data on the mobility of radium in groundwater would also be helpful in attempts to predict its potential for occurrence in sources of drinking water at remote sites. 

Benes P, Sebesta F, Sedlacek J, et al. 1983. Particulate forms of radium and barium in uranium mine waste waters and receiving river waters. Water Res 17 619-624. 

Howe GR, Nair RC, Newcombe HB, et al. 1987. Lung cancer mortality (1950-80) in relation to radon daughter exposure in a cohort of workers at the Eldorado Port Radium uranium mine Possible modification of risk by exposure rate. J Natl Cancer Inst 79 1255-1260. 

Nielson KK, Rogers VC. 1981. Health effect coefficients for radium and radon released in the mining and milling of uranium. In Gomez M, ed. Radiation Hazards in Mining, 760-763. 

Teixeira, VS, Franco EP. 1986. Root uptake of exogenous radium-226 by three edible vegetables grown in farm soils from the vicinity of the first Brazilian uranium mine and mill [Abstract], Chem Environ Proc Int Conf 837-842. (CA 110 7068b)... 

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